


The (Updated) Playlist of Arthur Pendragon

by deareli



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Basically just them becoming friends, Braniac Leon, Depression, Engineer Gwen, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Footballer Arthur, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, LMAO, M/M, Multi, Musician Merlin, Rewrite, They're all a lil fucked up, Writer Percy, artist morgana, bartender gwaine, club, musician lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:33:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22937920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deareli/pseuds/deareli
Summary: “Well fuck me!” a voice joyously called out from the door, making the four look up. “Princess! How exciting to see you!”Arthur blinked, not believing what he was seeing. Well, it made sense when he thought about it but it was a shock all the same. “Gwaine?” he asked.--Arthur chaperones Morgana to one of her club meetings and finds himself drawn to one member in particular, Merlin Emrys.
Relationships: Gwaine & Merlin (Merlin), Gwaine/Percival (Merlin), Gwen & Merlin (Merlin), Gwen/Lancelot (Merlin), Gwen/Lancelot/Morgana (Merlin), Gwen/Morgana (Merlin), Lancelot/Morgana (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Morgana & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 38





	The (Updated) Playlist of Arthur Pendragon

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite! I added some parts and edited old ones to make it better, and deleted the old version :0
> 
> This is basically just a part time for me. I have Uni and work so there won't be too many updates. 
> 
> Each chapter will be named after a song that loosely inspired it. I will link each song too. 
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy!
> 
> Castles - Of Verona  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQXDyLtPg3Y

“What?”

“I want you to come with me to the club this afternoon,” Morgana smiled, black lips curled and green eyes sparkling with mirth. “And before you think about refusing this time, Uther has asked me to tell you that you’re to chaperone me tonight, since I’ll be out late.”

Arthur narrowed his eyes, knowing for a fact that Morgana didn’t need a chaperone and often screamed at Uther for even suggesting it. She was up to something, he knew it. “Morgana-“

“Come now Arthur,” his sister purred, looking pleased with herself. He hated it. “What have you got to lose?”

“Well if Father found out he’d have my head for one.”

Morgana scoffed, rolling her eyes. Arthur prepared himself for the whole ‘you need to stand up to Uther’ rant, but surprisingly it didn’t come. “Aw, afraid you’ll become gay? Come now, Arthur. You can come to watch.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Arthur bit back, but he knew the argument was lost. As far as Uther was concerned, Morgana was his loving daughter and when she sucks up to him all he can think about is her happiness. “Fine. Fine! I’ll go to your stupid club. Whatever. Where is it?”

“The old music classroom in the west wing,” Morgana smiled, and she looked so smug that it made Arthur’s scowl worsen. “Thank you Arthur, you’re such a gentleman. I’ll meet you by my locker after your last class, don’t be late,” and with one final pat to his cheek she left, long school skirt swishing after her.

Arthur watched her go, his scowl disappearing and a sigh escaping his lips. He’d have to cancel practise with Leon, apparently, but he knew his friend wouldn’t mind if he told him it was Morgana’s idea.

-/-/-/-/-

You see, Arthur and Morgana both attended Avalon High, a private high-school that cost a lot of money to attend. But the two siblings could afford it, being the children of Uther Pendragon. Uther was a kingpin in the business world, owning a chain of hotels and restaurants for the wealthy throughout England and the Americas, and it meant that his children could live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

Avalon High was known for being a top tier school, only producing students with top grades. The school was large, with three buildings and almost any class you could think of. The uniform was a white button up shirt, black skirts for females, grey pants for males and a red tie. There was a blazer too, but students didn’t often wear it during the school day.

While Arthur had no issue with the uniform, Morgana was different. Ever since she was a child, she hated wearing dresses and skirts and fought tooth and nail trying to make the school (and Uther) let her wear pants. When she eventually relented, she chose to wear ankle length skirts instead, deciding to go for the longest skirt in the school, for whatever reason. Arthur didn’t really get it.

The two siblings hung out with different groups. Morgana stuck to her hipster and ‘gay’ friends, often refusing to let Uther meet any of them. The only one he had met was Gwen, because Arthur had introduced her when she was helping Morgana with her homework (though Arthur was almost certain they weren’t actually doing homework). He later met Elyan, who was studying abroad and came back every now and then to visit his sister and father. Arthur had only talked to Lance and Gwen, but Morgana had met all of his friends – aka the select few from the football team that Arthur could actually stand to be around. Leon, Percy and sometimes Kay would drag Arthur away for a day of just being a teen and he loved it.

Walking to Morgana’s locker, he sent a quick text to Leon apologising for not being able to make it to the café after school and leant against the wall, waiting for her sister. Eventually he could spot her walking with Gwen and Lance flanking her, her hair falling in front of her face as she laughed. While Arthur would deny it to anyone who asked, he was secretly glad to see Morgana so happy with her friends instead of showing her usual bitchy ice-queen exterior.

“Arthur!” Gwen called, snapping him out of his thoughts as she ran up to him. He opened his arms up without hesitation and pulled her into a small hug. He wasn’t usually affectionate, but something about Gwen made him soft at times.

“Guinevere,” he smiled, watching her huff at the use of her full name. He knew she wasn’t too fond of it, but she always let him call her that. “Morgana dragging you with her, again?”

Gwen laughed at that, pulling away as Morgana and Lance reached them. “Nothing like that. She said you were joining us today, are you excited?”

Arthur pulled a face at that.

“Of course he is,” Morgana smirked before Arthur could reply. “He seemed almost too excited when I asked him to chaperone me.”

This time it was Lance who spoke up as they waited for Morgana to grab her bag out of her locker. “It’s nice of you to spend some time with us, Arthur,” the taller boy said, running a hand through his wavy brown hair, ever the mediator. “Morgana has been complaining about not talking to you as much.”

Arthur blinked, not expecting that. But why would Lance lie to him? “Really?” he grinned, saving that information away for later.

“Don’t listen to him,” Morgana snapped, turning around and punching Arthur’s arm gently. “I’m fine without you.”

“Right, sure, Morgana.”

Gwen and Lance laughed heartily as they made their way to the room, Morgana kicking Arthur as he ran away.

-/-/-/-/-

Arthur was surprised by how small the group was, and by who was actually in it. The group of four were the first ones in (“We’re always here first, gives us time to set up,” Gwen had said, after Morgana admitted that Gwen was the leader and she was simply sponsoring) and Arthur immediately made to sit down.

He wouldn’t admit it but he was a bit nervous about this. He knew his presence would be noticed – it would be surprising if it wasn’t because of his status. Arthur and Morgana were considered ‘royalty’ but for different reasons.

Being captain of the football team and son of Uther Pendragon, Arthur had instantly become popular, whereas Morgana became popular because of her looks alone. She kept to herself and her small group of friends, not wanting the popularity at all. And while she had a lot of admirers, the other students learnt early on that she was not afraid to make her true thoughts known whenever she would receive a love letter.

“Nervous?” Gwen’s voice broke through his thoughts once again, and he looked up to see her smiling at him.

“Definitely not,” he lied, nudging her arm with his elbow gently. He was thankful that she understood what he meant, because she simply laughed and squeezed his shoulder before walking off to help Morgana.

“Well fuck me!” a voice joyously called out from the door, making the four look up. “Princess! How exciting to see you!”

Arthur blinked, not believing what he was seeing. Well, it made sense when he thought about it but it was a shock all the same. “Gwaine?” he asked.

It was indeed Gwaine standing in the doorway. He and Arthur knew each other through Leon and while Gwaine was part of the football team he often skipped out on practice and would disappear for the few hours instead. Arthur liked the man to an extent but he did tend to be annoying.

Gwaine had his long hair tied up into a ponytail today, keeping it clear on his face, and Arthur had to admit it suited him. He wondered why the other boy had his hair tied up, because the last time Morgana suggested it Gwaine had been _very_ against it.

“I didn’t know you were anything but cis-het,” Gwaine grinned, and didn’t give Arthur a chance to reply. “This is incredible.”

“I’m straight, you idiot,” he snapped, deciding to ignore the word ‘cis-het’. Like, what the hell did it mean and why did Gwaine say it? “I’m just here to chaperone Morgana. Uther’s orders.”

Gwaine had a strange glint in his eye, but it was gone as soon as he stepped fully into the room and moved to the chair next to Arthur. “Ah, well fair enough. I dunno what I am but definitely aint straight. I’m mainly here to support my best mate though.”

Arthur narrowed his eyes. He had heard Gwaine talk about his ‘best mate’ before but had never seen them or met them. He wondered who it was that managed to gain Gwaine’s full loyalty.

The next person to step through was Percy, and that wasn’t as surprising to Arthur. He knew the friendly giant wasn’t straight. He hadn’t exactly come out, but had dropped hints during the times that he and Arthur hung out. Percy caught his gaze and nodded, a small smile appearing on his face. Arthur understood. He knew Percy wasn’t fully out and wouldn’t say anything. He may be a bit rude at times but forcing someone out of the closet was something he absolutely hated.

“Perce, look who it is!” Gwaine exclaimed, throwing an arm around Arthur’s neck. The blonde yelped, gripping the other boy’s knee to stop himself from falling off the chair. He heard Percy’s laugh, and assumed the giant was used to Gwaine’s over-the-top personality. He heard Percy reply with a quiet, friendly “leave him alone” but Arthur was too busy trying to get his head out from Gwaine’s grip.

He eventually got free, much to Morgana’s annoyance (which she made clear with a scoff), only to hear the door open and close as someone else walk in.

“Merlin!” Gwaine called cheerfully, jumping up and running to the door. Arthur looked up as there was a ‘thump’ followed by a yelp and he looked over to see Gwaine holding _Merlin Emrys_ of all people in a hug strong enough to lift the boy off the ground slightly. “Finally! You really know how to keep us waiting.”

“Gwaine-!” Merlin whined, seemingly annoyed by the affection. But Arthur could see the boy didn’t actually mind at all.

A year ago Merlin had been pushed out of the closet by Sophia – a girl Arthur dated for a few months until she tried to get him drunk enough for him to have sex with her – who had leaked a picture of him making out with another boy in their year at a party. So him being in an LGBT themed group wasn’t supposed to be surprising. But Emrys was a loner, refusing to interact with anyone and often disappearing as much as he could.

Once Merlin had been placed on the ground again, messy black hair falling into his face as he glared at Gwaine, he glanced at Arthur once (and Arthur would once again deny this thought if anyone asked, but he almost flinched at the intensity of Merlin’s gaze, even if it lasted over a second). After apparently studying Arthur, the younger boy looked towards Morgana as he dropped his satchel on a chair. The school uniform hung loose on his body, his tie loosened and sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The strange red scarf he always wore sat around his neck as usual. “Sorry I’m late,” he said simply, letting Gwaine pull him to a seat.

So _Merlin_ was Gwaine’s best mate. Arthur didn’t know how it happened (the two were almost complete opposites) but he wouldn’t say anything.

Morgana smiled, eyes softening. “It’s fine, we’re just going to take it easy today since we have a visitor,” she said, and once again Merlin’s gaze shifted over to Arthur, before moving back onto Morgana and Gwen. “Gwen and Lance were kind enough to bring some board games with them today so unless there’s something specific anyone wants to do…” Morgana trailed off, looking at each of the members, waiting for any objections. There weren’t any, but the silence was a comfortable one and Arthur felt himself relaxing. Even Merlin, for all his anti-social behaviour, had relaxed into his chair, bony knees resting against Gwaine’s legs.

The afternoon went by quickly. Arthur quickly found out that everyone apart from Percy and Gwaine had tendencies to be very competitive (even Gwen, who ended up throwing her monopoly character at Gwaine when he won. She eventually apologised and gave him a hug). Arthur found himself drawn into a game of Chicago when Merlin goaded him.

(“What’s wrong, _sire_? Afraid of dice?”

“Shut up-“)

He lost, but he refused to acknowledge it and instead loudly claimed that the younger boy had cheated somehow, which earnt him a whack on the head from Morgana, but Merlin had merely shrugged and challenged Arthur again, and Arthur still couldn’t work out exactly how Merlin had been winning. But the small smile on his face as he won somehow made Arthur feel a bit better about losing, not that he’d ever admit it.

The meeting went by without hassle, and Arthur found himself enjoying it despite only being there for Morgana and his father. He idly wondered what else they got up to in meetings as he watched Gwen and Lance team up against Morgana and Percy in a game of Pictionary. Morgana and Percy had won, but it had ended up a close game which had Gwen begging for a rematch (Morgana eventually relented and it was odd seeing his usually stubborn sister giving into someone).

“How was it?” Gwen asked once it had finished, her and Morgana letting him catch up with them. “I saw you having fun today.”

Arthur shrugged, slipping into step beside her with Morgana on her other side. “It was fine. Not what I was expecting,” he said, looking over at Morgana. “I didn’t realise you were friends with Emrys. How did that happen?”

“Oh, it was interesting actually,” Morgana hummed in thought, long hair tied up into a ponytail now, probably because it had been irritating her. “After the incident with Sophia Gwen had run into him at the library and gave him her number.”

“I kept saying the wrong thing,” Gwen laughed, her cheeks tinted red. “Merlin really has the raised eyebrow look perfected, it was hard even getting out what I wanted to say.”

Arthur blinked, trying to picture what happened. He didn’t even know that Merlin liked socialising, because every time someone tried to have a conversation with the man he would disappear. Again, he wondered how exactly Gwaine became ‘best mates’ with the boy (because he was sure that Merlin was who Gwaine was talking about, the two were so affectionate and touchy-feely it was strange to see). “Oh,” he eventually said, reaching his car. “It’s just weird to see him hanging out with people.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Morgana said, stopping and turning to look at Arthur. “Are you joining us next week?”

Arthur almost refused, when he stopped himself. He found himself wanting to go again, but he wouldn’t give Morgana the satisfaction of knowing she was right. “Father will probably want me to chaperone you again,” he eventually replied, looking away. “So I guess I’ll have to hang around again.”

“Hmm.. Sure.”

Gwen gave him a knowing look, but thankfully she didn’t say anything more about it. “I better go,” she said after a beat, giving Arthur a hug. Morgana was a bit different, pulling Gwen in for a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Arthur didn’t really know where else to look. This was the first time he had seen Morgana openly show any sort of affection, but it at least proved to him that his suspicions were correct. “Come on Morgana, father will be waiting,” he said after a moment, opening the passenger door, idly wondering when he had become an actual chaperone for his sister.

Morgana scoffed and rolled her eyes, but she pulled away from Gwen and stepped into the car. “Will you be alright, Guinevere?” Arthur asked, closing the door and turning to the other girl.

“Of course,” Gwen smiled, her eyes twinkling. Her cheeks were bright red and she seemed stuck on what to say next. “Thank you, I know Morgana has wanted to do that for a while and it means a lot that you’re okay with it.”

“I dunno why I wouldn’t be,” Arthur shrugged. “I don’t think she’d let me be angry with her about it, but I’m so gonna bug her about it.”

Gwen laughed, the sound of it making Arthur grin. “Don’t be too Harsh, Pendragon,” she said, patting his hand. She stepped back, then made her way towards her bike. Arthur watched her go, and it wasn’t until Gwen had disappeared down the road that he hopped into the car to drive home.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment letting me know what you think or just wanna talk, I love interaction with y'all
> 
> Or hit me up on my tumblr @ misguidedstars if you want!


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